LEAWOOD, Kan — Leawood has amended its city code regarding how to determine if an animal is dangerous — including pit bulls — after a Johnson County judge ruled the ordinance unconstitutional.
While the majority of the language remains the same, verbiage has been updated to distinguish “objective standards” when determining if an animal is “dangerous.”
“The Court did find that the City should have had objective standards for determining whether the dog was a pit bull or predominantly pit bull," Leawood spokesperson Patty Bennett said in a statement. "The City is still considering its options, but has revised the ordinance to comply with the Judge’s decision so that it includes the objective standards set forth by the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club."
The new definition of section 2-102 (k) can be read here.
The old definition of section 2-102 (k) can be read here.
Since 2020, the Bond family has been fighting to remove the ordinance and keep the dog they love.
On April 14, 2020, their dog, Lucy, got loose after jumping over the family’s fence.
She was found a few doors away by an animal control officer.
In a police report of the incident, she is described as “very friendly” and “skittish” as well as a “black and white pit bull-type breed.”
Two days after the incident, Kristi Bond received a letter saying Lucy had to be re-homed on the basis that she fit the “appearance and characteristics” of a pit bull, even though she is not a pit bull.
A few days after the letter, an animal control officer and a policeman came to Bond's home and demanded she surrender Lucy, which Bond refused.
The issue then went to court, where the judge ruled in favor of the city despite Bond producing a document from Lucy’s veterinarian describing her as a boxer-mix.
Bond then went on to appeal the ruling to continue fighting for Lucy as well as all other breeds considered dangerous.
Though a judge has now ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutional, and the city has amended the ordinance, Bond ultimately believes dangerous animals should be defined by behavior rather than appearance.
Lucy has now lost her eyesight.
"She's never done anything wrong," Bond said. "Breed should not matter. It should always be the behavior of the dog, not the breed."
Lucy is still at risk of losing her home.
"We're going to do what we can to not only not only keep her with us, but to make sure this doesn't happen to other families," Barnett said.
Other cities in Johnson County have repealed breed-specific legislation.
The most recent repeal was in Overland Park last September.
In Missouri, there's currently proposed laws in Jefferson City that would ban cities from ever implementing breed-specific laws in the first place.
"The citizens of Leawood have to say, we don't want this anymore. We want our city council, and we want our ordinances and laws to actually enhance public safety and not be based on these outdated assumptions," Barnett said.
